Kouga’s efforts to make its beaches universally accessible received another major boost with a donation of an amphibious wheelchair from the Wildlife and Environment Society of South Africa (Wessa).Jeffreys Bay’s Dolphin Beach was chosen as one of only four recipients countrywide and the only one in the Eastern Cape.

The wheelchairs, which were donated to Wessa by the Ford Motor Company Fund, allow the disabled to go into the water and enjoy a swim with the assistance of lifeguards.

The other three recipients were the City of Cape Town, Overstrand and Bitou.

The recipients were chosen by Wessa and the National Council for Persons with Disabilities (NCPD), based on beaches’ existing accessibility and facilities for persons with disabilities.

Dolphin Beach has wheelchair ramps and a deck which allow people with disabilities to access the beach, with limited or no assistance needed.

Kouga resident Jakkie Pieters, of the NCPD, received the wheelchair on behalf of the municipality at the hand-over event at Muizenberg Beach.

“The accessible ramps and amphibious wheelchair will allow persons with disabilities to enjoy not only the sandy beach but also the fresh water of the ocean.

“The opportunity is life changing and contributes to an inclusive environment for those with mobility impairments,” said Pieters.

Wessa National Coastal Coordinator Robert Slater said they were working to improve access to all Blue Flag beaches and it was hoped that future partnerships would allow them to procure more amphibious wheelchairs for more beaches that flew the prestigious flag.

“Everyone has a right to enjoy South Africa’s beautiful coastline and through this new initiative, we are making it possible for persons with disabilities to do so,” he said.

Kouga Community Services Portfolio Councillor Daniel Benson said the municipality appreciated the recognition from Wessa and the NCPD.

“The chair will be kept in the storeroom at Dolphin Beach and will be monitored by the lifeguards on duty,” he said.

Kouga executive mayor, Elsa van Lingen, said the establishment of a desalination plant is the best way to achieve water security for the Kouga area.

Delivering her State of the Municipality Address on Wednesday, Van Lingen said that a delegation from Kouga recently visited Israel to learn more about desalination from the world’s leaders in this field.

She said the process to appoint a professional services provider to assist with the implementation has been initiated.

Van Lingen said that long-term water security will also be the focus of the Kouga Municipality’s climate change partnership with Ilsfeld Municipality in Germany.

“A year ago the dams in the Algoa Water Supply System – from which both Kouga and our neighbours, Nelson Mandela Bay, draw water – were just more than half full at 50,2%. That figure has since dropped to 25.6%,” she said.

Van Lingen said “of particular concern to us is the Kouga Dam, which is the only water supply to the towns of Hankey and Patensie. A year ago the dam level stood at 36%; now it stands at just over 10%.”

“The outlook for the Churchill and Impofu Dams – which supply water to Jeffreys Bay, Humansdorp, St Francis Bay and Cape St Francis- is also bleak, with the level of the Churchill Dam dropping from 31% in February last year to 18% in February this year and the Impofu from 72.4% to 41.3%,” she said.

“In short, the water security of our communities is under serious threat,” Van Lingen said.

Meanwhile, Meanwhile, the Kouga mayor said that one of the big economic shocks for them this past year was the news that the proposed nuclear development at Thyspunt would not be happening soon, if ever.

Van Lingen said while the people of Kouga have been divided over the issue of years, she said there’s no doubt that news came as a blow to many job seekers, entrepreneurs, SMMEs, co-ops and businesses, who believed that Thyspunt would bring a much-needed economic boost to the region.

However, the Mayor said there’s far more to the Kouga area than just Thyspunt.

Van Lingen said there’s tremendous room for growth in many of sectors – including tourism, Agri-processing, and the Ocean Economy.

She said the Kouga Council will endeavour to unlock the full economic potential of the area.

Kouga Municipality, an equal opportunity employer, which subscribes to the principles of affirmative action, awaits applications for appointment in the following vacancy:

ACCOUNTANT: REVENUE

REQUIREMENTS:

B Comm Finance Degree or equivalent tertiary qualification;

2 Years’ experience in a municipal accounting environment or 3 years in the private sector accounting environment;

Valid Driver’s licence;

Computer Literate with advanced Excel & Word skills;

Proficient in at least two of the official languages (Afrikaans, English, and Xhosa).

SALARY: R306 828.00 – R398 268.00

DUTIES:

Co-ordinates and controls the application of accounting procedures by attending to the verification, reporting, processing and reconciliation of account receivable transactions to support analysis,

Identification and recovery of overdue accounts. Guiding and developing personnel on the processing sequences and attending to specific administrative processes associated with the Services an Rates payment, certification and correspondences.

BENEFITS: As per standard conditions of service;

Interested persons should submit their application on the prescribed application form, together with their CV, certified copy of qualifications, identity documents and driver’s licence. Sealed applications must reach the Human Resource Manager on or before Friday, 2 March 2018 at 12:00.

Application forms are available at the Municipal Offices in Jeffreys Bay, Humansdorp, St Francis Bay, Hankey, Patensie, Loerie and Thornhill or can be obtained from the Municipal Website – www.kouga.gov.za

For any inquiries contact Mr. B Faulkner: 042 2002 200.

Disqualification:

Please note that the following can lead to disqualification:

Non-submission of originally certified copies of academic records.
Canvassing of councillors.
Submission of fraudulent qualifications and/ or documents

NB: Please note that shortlisted candidates will be subjected to a vetting process. By applying for this position, the candidates agree to background checks being performed.

The Municipality reserves the right not to make an appointment.

Should you not hear from us within 30 days of closing date, kindly regard your application as being unsuccessful.

Kouga Municipality is an equal opportunity employer which subscribes to the principle of affirmative action which is non-sexist, non-racist, non-discriminatory and based on merit.

There were great expectations for tonight’s maiden State of the Nation Address (SONA) by President Cyril Ramaphosa.

The President set out a vision of unity for the country that all South Africans warmly welcome. We pledge our support in building one nation, with one future, which is in the interests of all South African.

Beyond the fine words of renewal and new found unity, he unfortunately did not fulfil the expectations of the public with a clean break from the Zuma era, and a total change from the current tried, tested and failed ANC policies that have brought our nation to this point.

Cyril Ramaphosa’s plan for South Africa is too much of a continuation of the Zuma era. There is no major policy reform, only some tinkering with the current policies that have not brought change to the lives of our people.

There were too many conferences and summits announced, and not enough clear plans for fixing the problems.

What we need is a string of legislation that will change the economic environment, and make it easier for young people to find work.

This must fundamentally alter the way we approach the creation of work. ANC policy will not, and cannot, address our crippling youth unemployment crisis.

South Africa needs immediate and total change. Nine years of the Zuma Presidency has set our nation back, and unfortunately President Ramaphosa did not show tonight that he is able to bring the total change we desperately require.

Following a meeting with opposition leaders in Parliament, we have as a collective, decided that Section 50 of the Constitution must be invoked to dissolve Parliament so that early National and Provincial elections are held.

Anyone from the ANC that wants to lead this country, must get their mandate from the people of South Africa, at the ballot box.

South Africa must choose the next President, not a handful of cronies at Luthuli House.

We have also called on the Speaker of Parliament to convene Parliament as a matter of urgency so that the Motion of No Confidence in President Zuma is heard this week.

When that motion is heard, the people of this beautiful country must head to the streets to make their voice heard. Zuma must go!

The Kouga Municipality is updating its information about boreholes situated on private land.

“We would like to appeal to all property owners with boreholes on their land to register them with the municipality,” said Executive Mayor Elza van Lingen.

“Our region is struggling through a severe drought and this information is necessary for our planning to ensure all our communities have water,” she said.

She said property owners were legally required to register their boreholes with the municipality.

The requirements are set out in Clause 141 of the National Water Act (Act No.36 of 1998) and Clause 48 of Kouga Municipality’s Water Supply and Sanitation Services Bylaw.

According to the bylaw, all property owners with boreholes are required to provide the following information to the municipality on the prescribed form:

Full name and surname
Municipal account number
Physical address and name of owner of the borehole
Coordinates of the borehole
Yield of the borehole(if known)
Depth of borehole
Casing depth and casing material
Depth of water level.
Name of borehole driller & drilling log.

It is also a requirement that property owners install water meters and keep records of water usage on a monthly basis.

Van Lingen said that those property owners who had not yet done so would be given grace till 30 June 2018 to register their boreholes.

The information provided must be submitted to Eddie Oosthuizen at the Infrastructure and Engineering Directorate or sent via email to eddieo@kouga.gov.za.

A borehole number must also be obtained from Dane Von Berg of the Department of Water and Sanitationat 041 501 0739 or vonbergd@dws.gov.za.

Kouga Municipality will be re-registering residents for free basic services over the next five months.Executive Mayor Elza van Lingen said the municipality would be conducting an Equitable Share (EQS) drive from February to June 2018 so as to ensure that all qualifying residents receive free basic services.

“It is very important that all residents who already receive EQS, re-register during this time so that they continue receiving the free services. New applications are also invited,” she said.

Those who are registered, receive 50kwh electricity plus the basic charge for free, 12kl water plus the basic charge for free, free refuse removal and free sewerage (based on 12kl water consumption).

They also do not pay the Environmental Management Fee (EMF) levy and rates for an additional R85 000 on their properties.

Residents are invited to register per ward, as per the following schedule:

Ward 4: February 4 to 8 at the Humansdorp municipal offices

Ward 5: February 12 to 15 at the Humansdorp municipal offices

Ward 6: February 19 to 22 at the Humansdorp municipal offices

Ward 12: (Humansdorp areas) and Ward 15: February 26 to 28 at the Humansdorp municipal offices

Ward 9: March 5 to 8 at the Hankey municipal offices

Ward 13: (Weston and parts of Hankey): March 12 to 15 at the Hankey municipal offices

Ward 10: March 19 to 22 at the Patensie municipal offices

Ward 13: (Patensie town): March 26 to 29 at the Patensie municipal offices

The Mayor said all applicants are required to complete the application form personally.

The following documents must also be supplied: municipal account and prepaid meter number, ID document (husband and wife), proof of income (bank statement, pay slip or pension card), sworn affidavit if unemployed, proof of usufruct (if owner is deceased, a letter of authority and death certificate).

A council meeting held in the Jeffreys Bay Council Chamber on 25 January was totally disrupted by the ANC, leading to scuffles and the subsequent adjournment of the meeting.

Several important items were on the agenda, including the recommendation that Council implements a desalination programme in Kouga, leading to the inexorable conclusion that the ANC, the official opposition in Council, simply does not care if the taps run dry in the various towns in Kouga.

Day Zero for Hankey and Patensie is predicted to occur in March, while the rest of Kouga’s taps could run dry by September, so it is disconcerting to see politicians disrupt a Council meeting where desalination was an item on the agenda.

The Annual Financial Statements and the Annual Report of the Municipality, as well as the Auditor General’s report were all important items on the agenda that the ANC refused to debate.

The leader of the ANC, Cllr Dayimani made it clear that the ANC would not allow the Council meeting to continue as they were objecting about the agenda, which was a paperless agenda and according to him, not all Councillors had access to their agendas.

The Speaker of Council, Cllr Hendricks agreed that there had been teething problems with the paperless agenda but, according to the rules of Council, this could not invalidate the meeting.

Several of the ANC Councillors then became unruly and started speaking out of turn, which led the Speaker to adjourn the meeting for 10 minutes.

Upon the resumption of the meeting, the opposing party once again became unruly and started to verbally and physically target some of the DA Councillors. An attempt was even made to grab the cell phone of a DA Councillor who was taking pictures of the mayhem that was unfolding in the Council Chamber.

This prompted the Speaker of Council to once again adjourn the meeting and shift the meeting to another venue in St Francis Bay, which he is entitled to do, according to the rules of Council.

When the meeting eventually continued in St Francis Bay, the unqualified audit report, as well as the other statutory reports were adopted by the majority of Council, which excluded the ANC.

Council also approved the appointment of a consultant to lead the Municipality through the process of bringing desalinated water onstream to augment the dwindling supply of surface water available to residents of Kouga.